In the discussion that follows, reference is made to certain structures and/or methods. However, the following references should not be construed as an admission that these structures and/or methods constitute prior art. Applicant expressly reserves the right to demonstrate that such structures and/or methods do not qualify as prior art.
Today, there is a progressively increasing trend in dentistry toward the use of automated technologies for treatment planning, virtual procedures, orthodontics, design and manufacturing of dental restorations both in dental offices (chair side) and dental laboratories (lab side). This trend, sometimes called “digital revolution,” is most evident in lab side explosion of CAD/CAM technologies. A number of CAD/CAM systems available to dental laboratories has increased nearly ten-fold in the last decade. Currently, there are over 25 dental CAD/CAM systems and quite a few copy-milling systems using mill blanks in a variety of shapes and sizes. Blank shapes vary from simple geometries such as rectangular, cylindrical or hexagonal to more complex such as smart blanks described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,979,496 which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Their sizes range from about 0.5″ to about 4″ in length or diameter. Mill blanks are available in all 4 types of materials—metals, polymers (resins, plastics), ceramics and composites. Ceramic mill blanks can be divided into three major categories: feldspathic (leucite-based and sanidine or feldspar-based), glass-ceramic (lithium silicate, micaceous, etc.), and crystalline ceramic based such as alumina and/or zirconia (soft-sintered or fully dense). All three ceramic categories as well as composite blanks are already available or soon will be available in a variety of shades. Stocking the necessary inventory of shades for each given type of blank adds to economic pressures on the facility operating a CAD/CAM system.
While CAD/CAM technology provides dental laboratories with opportunities for improved quality, reproducibility and elimination of human error, most CAD/CAM systems are geared to milling soft-sintered zirconia and thus lacking material selection to be competitive in a supersaturated and fast-paced market. Since the price for a CAD/CAM system, depending on manufacturer and configuration, runs from $50,000 to $500,000 only the largest labs and outsource centers can afford to operate multiple systems to expand their material selection. Most CAD/CAM systems manufacturers do not make their own blocks, rather they purchase them from suppliers such as Ivoclar, Vita or Metoxit, with an established core competency in dental or advanced materials development and manufacturing. Understandably, CAD/CAM materials are fairly expensive adding substantially to CAD/CAM system operating costs. For example, the price of ceramic milling blanks range from about $0.60 to $4.50 per gram of material. Yield per blank as defined in U.S. Pat. No. 6,979,496 is fairly low and most of it goes to waste.
The first CAD/CAM systems comprising milling units for chair side or lab side use such as Cerec (Sirona) and Lava (3M/ESPE) were closed systems wherein mill blanks are attached to a stub retainer, projection, mandrel, holder or carrier body, which have a unique patented geometry as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,485,305 and 6,769,912 and can be also protected by a bar-code, thereby preventing interchangeability with other (CAD/CAM) systems. Variations of a work piece (millable part) on a stub assembly are also described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,214,435, 6,669,875, 6,627,327, 6,482,284, 6,224,371, 6,991,853 and 6,660,400, which are hereby incorporated by reference. With advent of the open architecture systems, blank interchangeability between systems has become not only possible but extremely desirable. While the market is currently dominated by closed systems, the market penetration of open systems is steadily increasing. From 25 commercial CAD/CAM systems at least 5 or 6 are utilizing the same D-250 dental 3D scanner and DentalDesigner™ dental CAD software (3Shape A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark). In an open architecture system, the blanks are not bar-code protected and any blank can be used as long as it fits the existing housing (blank holder, chuck, collect, support) of the milling unit.
Thus, a need exists in the art for enabling blank and holder interchangeability, maximizing yield per blank, and reducing material waste, to maximize the system's versatility, selection of materials and efficiency of operation.